Boomtown Sports: A sport by sport look at the youth sports in the Tall City

From Staff Reports

Published 1:22 pm, Sunday, June 24, 2012

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Swimmers at the WNB Invitational take off in the boys 13 and over 200 m butterfly Friday at Doug Russell Pool. Photo by Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram

Swimmers at the WNB Invitational take off in the boys 13 and over 200 m butterfly Friday at Doug Russell Pool. Photo by Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

Boomtown Sports: A sport by sport look at the youth sports in the Tall City

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Baseball

Participation: Mid-City Little League has seen its participation almost double in the last couple of years. Northern Little League, which merged with North Central Little League last year, has also seen participation almost double. Midland Junior Baseball Association has also seen 600 kids participate in T-ball.

Average Cost: $85-$90 per player

What’s Going On Now: Turk McDonald, of Mid-City Little League and Jon Blair, of Northern Little League said the number of kids and teams is putting a lot of stress on the Little League fields. With so many participating, it means that the leagues may have to spread practice times out longer into the evening in order for each team to get time on the fields.

Outlook for the future: Blair said the City of Midland has been great help with keeping up the Little League fields and they have even brought in quality dirt from the Mansfield area to help keep up with the infields. McDonald also thinks that the participation numbers will continue to increase in the coming years, putting additional stress on the fields.

Softball

Participation: For recreational teams at MUGS or Midland United Girls Softball there were 615 players this season, which was up from around 560 last season. That number does not include the number of players that were playing on travel or select teams through MUGS as well.

Average Cost: $60 for players in T-ball, and $80 for players in other age groups

What’s Going On Now: Lots of games with lots of teams. Kelly Summers, who is the MUGS’ board secretary, said this is the most participants she’s seen in her 13 years of being involved in the program. MUGS plays three times a week, and the fields are full on those weeknights. Even with the increased numbers, Summers said the program has had little trouble recruiting coaches to help during the season and at tournaments. “This year it was easier than I’ve ever seen,” Summers said. “We had a couple of divisions that were short one or two, but those were filled. I think a lot of that was they have younger kids and were real excited about coaching.”

Outlook for the future: As the numbers increase, Summers said the organization has to seriously look at adding another day for play, possibly Fridays. The Freddie Ezell Softball Complex at Ulmer Park has nine fields and during the week only two games a night can be played on each field. If the number of players and teams continue to increase, then it could be a real possibility that games will be played on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Soccer

Participation: Seen an increase from around 1,600 participating to more than 2,500 over the last year.

Average Cost: $45 for pee-wee (under 6 years of age), $55 for youths (ages 6-7) and $65 for everybody else

What’s Going On Now: Roderick Strambler, president of Midland Soccer Association, said the biggest challenge facing soccer is getting enough volunteers to help out. “It’s all about the money right now,” Strambler said. “We have to entice people in other ways to get them to come out and see it’s worth their while. It’s good and bad with the boom. I like the boom because it helps our city and the money trickle just kind of trickles down.”

Outlook for the future: Strambler said the association is trying to get the city to revamp the fields at Hogan Park and Beal Park. Because so many people use those fields and because of the drought, the fields have become worn down and at times they practice on fields that feel like hard, clay dirt. The association is trying to get money from donors and the oil companies to help with the revitalization and get their programs to practice on school fields, so as not to wear down the fields at the parks.

Basketball

Participation: It’s hard to tell because there is no one league that most kids play in, but the YMCA youth basketball league saw the number of participants in its summer basketball minicamps nearly double from a year ago from 40 kids to 71. There are several AAU teams from Midland featuring athletes as young as third graders to high school level.

Average Cost: Hard to gauge because participation is so splintered.

What’s Going On Now: The consensus seems to attribute the lack of a unified youth basketball league in the city to a lack of facilities. None of the Midland ISD facilities are available for youth basketball during the summer, which eliminates a majority of gyms with full-sized basketball courts. Most kids from Midland wanting to play basketball outside of school have to join a traveling team and head to Lubbock or the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Outlook for the future: This is the one sport where coaches aren’t terribly positive about the future. If facilities aren’t opened up then it’s going to be difficult to see basketball further grow in the Tall City. More than one coach has voiced a desire for a new recreation center to be built in the city that would feature multiple basketball courts and be the cornerstone for building a youth basketball league. There’s no way to predict if that will ever happen.

Golf

Participation: Most courses are seeing an increase in younger participants at clinics

Average Cost: Clinic costs can start at around $30 and go up from there, and there are more costs for equipment and green fees as a golfer

What’s Going On Now: Midland has an abundant amount of golf courses, and the courses are already full with players because of the extended oil boom. Now most professionals in the city are saying that young players starting at around ages 5 or 6 are beginning to come to clinics and lessons in high numbers. “It’s a young group of kids, and you are talking about a big group of kids from like 6-13 years old,” said Green Tree Country Club head professional Brian McKinley.

Outlook for the future: The large numbers of players not only helps the bottom line for courses and clubs, but also helps keep people interested in the game itself. If even half of the young players keep playing the game, then golf courses in Midland could be full for years to come.

Tennis

Participation: Up at clinics, camps and general participation

Average Cost: Clinics can start at around $30-$40 and rackets can start at $25, and expenses for shoes and other lessons are more

What’s Going On Now: There has probably not been a better time to be a young athlete in the city and be interested in tennis. Between Midland College’s tennis center, the high schools and the new tennis center, young players have plenty of public venues to play and learn the game. And that doesn’t even count the city’s private clubs with courts. Plus, there are plenty of people willing to help teach the game. Adam Lucio, who handles the QuickStart program at the new Bush Tennis Center, said they are seeing at least five to six new kids per session. It’s much the same throughout the city as Racquet Club pro Scott Stewart said he is seeing larger participation among younger players.

Outlook for the future: If the players keep playing it could be good for tennis in the city both competitively and also in being able to keep the new tennis center a viable part of the community. Tennis is a sport that can be expensive, but with the abundance of clinics and places to play a young player will be able to learn the game.

Track & Field

Participation: Between the city’s two most popular track clubs — Tall City Christian Track Club and Midland Crusaders — they have more than 130 participants in all ages. That is us up from around 100 from last summer.

Average Cost: Both clubs have a $70 initial charge, and then each varies in regards to equipment and participating in meets

What’s Going On Now: Tall City Christian Track Club’s Farris Strambler and the Midland Crusaders’ Tony Goyang said they haven’t seen this type of growth in their careers. Strambler started the Tall City Christian Track Club more than 30 years ago, and even he said he’s starting to see the effects of the local population boom. “It helps our program in the summer to try to keep these kids busy,” Strambler said. Both clubs participate in USATF and TAAF meets during the year, and are taking larger contingents than in previous years to those meets. “That’s what the challenge is because most of the competition is around the Metroplex,” Goyang said.

Outlook for the future: The one thing that can affect a track club program is the cost to travel, but if the number of participant continue to go up that could help the city’s clubs make the trips they want to take in the future. Plus, with some track clubs in the area, that could also help bring more junior meets to the area.

Swimming & Diving

Participation: Up nearly 15 percent over 2011

Average Cost: Learn to swim classes at COM start at $59 and up from there as a swimmer becomes more competitive

What’s Going On Now: The swimming program, both recreational and a competitive at City of Midland Aquatics is bursting at the seams, COM Executive Director Brad Swendig said. The numbers of swimmers at the lower levels has increased so much that it is becoming tough for the programs to find the pool space needed and the employees needed for the programs. “You kind of hate to complain about it because that’s what you want,” Swendig said. “We’ve been able to do a good job and we have to balance that.”

Outlook for the future: Swendig said he expects the future to be bright, and added that when the economy slows participant numbers tend to go up because parents want to keep their kids closer to home. Swendig did say that they have been looking at possibly adding to Mabee Aquatic Center but that is just on a wish list right now.

Football

Participation: Up an estimated 10 percent each of the last two years.

Average Cost: $95 for the season.

What’s Going On Now: Because of the popularity of football in West Texas, the Greater Midland Football League sees growth every year, according to GMFL president Kyle Huckaba..

Outlook for the future: Huckaba said the biggest problem that is facing all youth sports is having enough facilities and coaches to accommodate the growth. “Hopefully as we continue to grow, we’ll add more facilities and field to practice and play on. And as we grow, we will consider adding more teams as well.”

Other Sports

Volleyball

There are a handful of volleyball clubs around the city but the focus for many volleyball players starts when the players reach junior high age. Many take up the sport when they go to junior high, but Midland has hosted a number of club tournaments through the years.

Martial Arts/

Mixed Martial Arts

As Mixed Martial Arts has grown in popularity across the country so has learning about the basics of a martial art. Brad Barnes, who works with Rhino BJJ and the Bruno Bastos Association, said that they are experiencing growth at the younger age groups in teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and he admits they can be easier to teach. But Brazlian Jiu-Jitsu isn’t the only martial art being taught in town as there are a number of taekwondo and kick boxing gyms that kids are frequenting.